


Lay Me Down

by ticklishblaine (lightsandsparks)



Category: Glee RPF
Genre: Dom/sub, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sickness, also the managers are mentioned by name u feel?, mention of a panic attack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-11
Updated: 2016-11-11
Packaged: 2018-08-30 10:59:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8530420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightsandsparks/pseuds/ticklishblaine
Summary: Chris gets a call in the middle of the night that his sub is sick and being taken to the hospital. A call like that would cause any Dom to panic, but what's worse is that Chris just so happens to be on the other side of the country.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lovetheblazer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovetheblazer/gifts).



> For the best friend I've ever had, Sarah. Happy birthday, dearest <3

“I feel like absolute dog shit, Chris.”

“That’s a lovely way of putting it,” Chris watches the little picture of himself on his laptop screen as he laughs. He’s currently skyping Darren who’s been sick with the flu for the better part of four days and there’s nothing funny about that situation at all, but Chris has missed him. If he’s a little giddy from seeing his boyfriend’s face after weeks of being separated by opposite ends of the country then he really can’t help that, okay?

Darren’s response is nothing but silence and a sad pout. Now Chris feels even guiltier. The lack of banter is an immediately obvious illustration of just how terrible Darren must feel, and the last thing he needs right now is to be teased. 

“I’m sorry, babe,” Chris apologizes.

Darren just sighs.

Now Chris is getting concerned. His boyfriend is never this quiet, not even in his sleep. “What did you say your symptoms were again?” Chris asks, mostly as an attempt to get him talking.

“Fever, headache. I’ve thrown up pretty much every hour on the hour for two days and my neck really hurts, but that’s probably mostly just from sleeping on the bathroom floor last night.”

“Poor thing,” Chris tuts. “You really need to go to the doctor.”

“What’s the point? I don’t have one in New York and I’m coming back to LA tomorrow night. I’ll just see my family doc when I get there.”

Chris rolls his eyes. Darren’s aversion to doctors has always been a point of contention in their relationship, particularly since he gets sick so often and chooses to let himself go untreated. “How are you even going to get on a plane? You’ll infect the entire cabin. Hell, you’ll infect every city you fly over, probably.”

Chris watches Darren shift on his bed and frowns in empathy when he sees him visibly wince. “I promise I’ll go to the doctor when I get to LA, Chris.”

Chris isn’t unwise to Darren’s deflection attempt, but what can he do? Darren is an adult, and short of flying out to New York and carrying him to the nearest urgent care center himself, Chris is helpless. 

He hates it. He hates not being able to care for Darren. Especially because Darren is his sub, and all of Chris’s instincts are screaming at him to do _something_.

Darren and Chris have been in a relationship for about a year, but their Dom and sub dynamic is fairly new. Well, that’s not entirely true. When Chris thinks about it, he knows they’ve fit into these roles with each other ever since the day they met, but it wasn’t until recently that they decided to put an official title on it. Making the decision itself involved several long conversations, a lot of research, and even a few educational group meetings, but Chris and Darren both agree that their relationship has never been better. 

However, for Chris, the title of Dom comes with an acute awareness for the feelings that Darren invokes in him. Chris intrinsically needs to protect him and keep him safe, and being unable to do that right now is like having an extremely irritating itch that he simply cannot scratch.

After several moments of silence, Chris opens his mouth to try to explain this to Darren, but he’s already fast asleep.

\--

The call comes at 4:16 in the morning.

It’s Alla, but Chris’s stomach still drops. No good call has ever come in the middle of the night, especially not from his manager.

“Chris?” she asks down the line. She sounds tentative and sympathetic and Chris doesn’t like it one bit. 

He shoots up in bed. “What’s wrong, what happened?”

She pauses. “Darren’s okay, he’s just really sick and he’s been asking for you. Ricky is taking him to the hospital right now.”

Chris feels himself start to panic. Alla knows him well and he appreciates her dropping the bomb by starting off with a reassurance, but Chris knows in his gut that it’s not true. Darren’s not okay.

Alla also knows about Chris and Darren. About their relationship, and the dynamic the two of them share. Ricky does too. Neither Chris or Darren have ever told them directly, but some things don’t ever need to be said out loud. Nevertheless, he appreciates the call.

Despite his anxiety, despite his heart feeling like it’s about to pound right out of his chest, he keeps his voice steady. “Did Ricky tell you this?”

“Yeah, he wanted me to tell you myself. He figured it would soften the blow.”

Chris wants to start screaming, start yelling that the only thing that would soften the blow would be talking to Darren, but Ricky and Chris aren’t exactly on good terms so maybe speaking to Alla first really was the better option. 

That doesn’t mean Chris isn’t going to call Ricky the second he gets the chance.

He’s already out of bed and flitting around his room, throwing random things into a weekend bag as he keeps his phone cradled between his ear and shoulder. “Can you reschedule my meeting for tomorrow morning?”

“Of course sweetie,” she says in that motherly way she has. Chris’s heart clenches and his eyes tear up. “I already got you a plane ticket as well. Can I come get you and take you to the airport? You’re probably in no fit state to drive right now.”

“Yes, yes thank you.” Chris feels like he can breathe again, if only for just a moment. “You’re the best, you know that right?” 

“Of course I do.”

\--

In the passenger seat of Alla’s car, Chris’s panic returns full force. 

He’s already sent three texts to Darren and called him twice without any response. His call to Ricky had gone unanswered as well, but luckily Alla had been able to answer some of his questions.

Apparently, Darren had called Ricky a few hours ago when his fever spiked to 103. By the time Ricky got to Darren’s place it had risen to 104 and Darren was slurring his words, seemed confused and wasn’t making any sense when he spoke. The only thing Ricky could really decipher was Chris’s name between Darren’s fits of crying and begging for him repeatedly on the way to the hospital.

But if Darren was really asking for Chris so desperately… then why isn’t Ricky answering his calls? 

Now Chris is the one that’s nauseous.

Chris is startled away from his anxious thoughts by the sound of his cell phone ringing. He scrambles to answer it, dully noting Ricky’s name as he shoves the phone to his ear. “How is he? What’s wrong with him?” Chris demands.

“Chris. He’s okay, really. I promise.”

In the background, Chris can hear the distinct sound of his sub crying. It awakens a feral protectiveness that Chris has never quite felt before, but the intensity is overwhelming and he knows Ricky is about to feel its wrath. 

“He’s not okay! I can hear him back there just as well as you can! Let me fucking talk to him. Right now!” Chris is only tangentially aware of the fact that he’s screaming into the phone but he doesn’t care. The only thing he cares about right now is getting to Darren, and if talking to him on the phone is as close as he can get for now then so be it.

As dumb as Ricky can be sometimes, he’s at least smart enough to hand over the phone at that point. “C-Chris?” is the next thing he hears. It’s Darren, and Chris can only barely hear what he’s trying to say through all of the crying he’s currently doing.

“Baby,” Chris feels his eyes burn as he listens to Darren whimper and sniffle. “Honey, I’m on my way. I’m coming for you. I’ll be there soon.”

Darren doesn’t respond, and it’s the loudest silence Chris has ever heard.

“Darren, please talk to me honey. Please say something so I know you’re okay.”

The only thing Chris gets in return is a bit of shuffling and a low grunt. Tears streaming down his face, Chris is on the verge of a panic attack. He almost doesn’t hear Ricky when he gets back on the phone.

“Chris, I know he sounds bad, but he’s on a lot of pain meds right now and he’s really scared. He has bacterial meningitis. His fever got really high so I brought him to the hospital, but he’s going to be okay.”

“Stop saying he’s okay! He’s not going to be okay until I get there. He needs _me_!” Chris takes a deep breath when Alla puts a hand on his knee. “I’ll be there soon. Please make sure he knows that.”

With that, he hangs up and has a breakdown.

\--

Alla winds up insisting that she buy a last minute plane ticket and come with Chris to New York. Her reasoning is that it’ll be easier to reschedule his meetings for the next few days if he’s there with her physically, but Chris knows she’s mostly just going to try to make sure he keeps it together on the six hour plane ride. 

Chris is so thankful for her.

She manages to keep him distracted well enough by asking him questions about mundane, work related things and forcing him to watch the inflight movie. She suggests a nap, but he isn’t even the slightest bit tired. All he can think about is that fact that right now, his phone is on airplane mode. If Darren tries to get a hold of him… or worse, if Ricky tries to get a hold of him to tell him… something, then neither of them would be able to reach him. 

Chris is in limbo right now, and as much as he desperately wants to get to Darren as soon as possible, he’s also dreading the moment he lands because he has absolutely no idea what’ll be waiting for him when he does.

The taxi ride from the airport to the hospital is torturous, particularly with the early morning, slow moving New York City traffic. When Chris finally did turn his phone back on, (after much prompting and encouragement from Alla) the only news was a text from Ricky stating that they decided to admit Darren for overnight observation. 

Definitely not the worst news he could have expected, but not the best, either.

With only vague directions on how to get to Darren’s hospital room, he and Alla wind up getting lost for long enough to cause Chris to starting panicking and crying all over again. Some loud voice in his head is telling him that he needs to get to Darren right now, that he’s running out of time. It’s an overwhelming, jolting pull that he can’t quite express but the frustration of being so close and yet so far away makes Chris want to start screaming - if only so his sub might hear him for just a moment and know that his Dom is on his way.

Eventually, Alla manages to reach Ricky on her cellphone and he directs the two of them through to the proper route to Darren’s room. 

Chris rushes through the half closed door, only letting a small part of his brain scold him for being so stereotypically dramatic. All embarrassment leaves him immediately however, when he finally lays eyes on his sub. His Darren, looking small and pale and weak and so, so sick. Chris rushes over to the side of the bed despite himself, eyes raking over Darren and trying to figure out what he should do. 

“Darren, baby? Are you awake?” he asks tentatively, figuring that’d be a good first step.

Darren opens his eyes after a moment. He looks groggy and out of it, but he’s definitely awake. “Chris,” he croaks out. “Chris.” He shifts on the bed, looking like he’s trying to sit up and Chris can’t help it; he collapses on the bed, wrapping his arms around Darren and nuzzling his nose against a too-warm cheek. “Honey, honey I’m here. It’s okay. It’s okay now.”

Chris knows Darren. He knows better than anyone that when Darren is suffering or in pain, when he’s tired or sad, the thing he needs first is skin-to-skin contact with his Dom. Chris reaches a hand under the flimsy hospital blanket and holds Darren’s hand where it lay clenching on his chest. He kisses Darren’s forehead, his eyelids, the side of his nose. Chris does all he can think of to communicate with his body, better than he ever could with his words, that he’s here. He’s here and he’s not leaving ever again.

“I love you,” Darren croaks after the two of them have settled into each other. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen.”

“No honey,” Chris coos, brushing his thumb over the clamy skin of Darren’s neck. “No apologizing. You have nothing to be sorry for. If anyone should be sorry it’s me.”

“Why?” Darren asks simply. He sounds so weak and helpless and the only thing keeping Chris from getting into the bed and covering him with his entire body is the fact that they’re technically still in public. A quick glance around the room shows that Alla and Ricky have apparently vacated to give them some privacy, but still. 

“I should have came when you told me how sick you were. I know you’re stubborn when it comes to these things. I should have been here to take care of you.”

“There was no way you could have known,” Darren says tiredly after a protracted pause. “Don’t be sorry.”

Chris can sense Darren fading. He must be beyond exhausted, and Chris knows it’s time to let him rest. He begins to pull away from his sub, but he's stopped by Darren gripping his hand fiercely. “Don’t go,” Darren begs, his eyes suddenly wide open and scared.

“I won’t baby, I’m not going anywhere I promise. I’m just going to go talk to Ricky and get some more details about why you’re so sick. Besides, you need your rest and I’m not really doing anything to help you with that right now.”

“Yes you are,” Darren argues, tears suddenly springing to his eyes. “I can’t rest unless you’re here with me.”

“Okay,” Chris agrees immediately. All fears and other worldly logic fly out the window as that magnetic pull leads him to curl his body around Darren’s on the small hospital cot. Chris kisses sweaty hair and holds him, carefully so as to not to cause him any more pain. “Does your neck hurt?” he asks after they adjust.

“A little.” Chris is just happy he’s being honest.

“Maybe you’re due for some pain meds,” Chris muses. “I’ll see about that soon. Right now I want you to try to go to sleep.”

“Yes sir,” Darren answers, and Chris feels his sub’s entire body relax. In turn, Chris’s body does the same, and he feels serene for the first time in hours. Maybe even days.

“You’re going to be okay. I’ll make sure of it.”

He watches as the corners of Darren’s lips twitch upwards slightly. “I know.”

Chris will worry about the diagnosis and the gritty details later. Right now, he has his sub wrapped up safe in his arms, and there’s not much more he could ask for than that.


End file.
